Maloney’s Last Days
By Marty Toohey
WASHINGTON, Dec. 04, 2002–Goodbye, Jim Maloney – at least ’til next week.
That’s when Maloney is expected to decide what he’ll do next year. And the recently defeated congressman couldn’t help blushing slightly when mentioning that he’s been contacted about several jobs, “which is always nice and a little flattering.”
But he’s pledged to stay in the public eye, and said he’s not inclined to return to his private law practice, where he spent 16 years as a real estate lawyer. He said he wants to stay in Connecticut, and he mentioned interests in higher-education administration and non-profit agencies.
He also mentioned the following public office possibilities “down the road”: running for mayor of his hometown, Danbury, next year; trying to win the 5th Congressional District seat in 2004; and possibly running for governor in 2006.
Public office “is something I will give serious consideration to, but it’s not the only thing I’ve thought about,” he said.
Maloney is not alone in looking for work after losing to his fellow incumbent, Republican Nancy Johnson, in the redrawn 5th Congressional District; members of his staff also are in the job market. Maloney’s offices, in Washington, Waterbury, Danbury and Meriden, will close in January, but staff members declined to discuss their job searches. Maloney’s Washington office has been moved into a cramped, temporary suite for outgoing members.
“Jim’s staff are very hardworking and valuable people,” John Olsen, chairman of the Connecticut Democratic Party, said in an interview about Maloney. “Too often we focus on the candidate and don’t talk about the staff and their efforts.”
Olsen and other Maloney peers praised his lawmaking ability and determination. Democratic Sen. Chris Dodd called him a “dogged” legislator, and Republican Rep. Chris Shays said he expects Maloney, whom he called “tremendously hardworking,” to remain in public life.
Democratic Rep. John Larson, who also served in the state legislature with Maloney, said Maloney was “a real tribune for his constituents.”
“Aside from being a workaholic, he was one of the most tenacious and talented people to serve in any legislature,” Larson said. “I don’t think he ever took a break.”
Maloney survived for three terms, Olsen pointed out, in a blue-collar district almost evenly split between Democrats and Republicans, a constituency for which he had to carefully craft his voting record. Satisfying that constituency, Larson said, was something only a representative intimately plugged into his district could do.
Ultimately, though, Maloney couldn’t sway enough of the newly drawn district’s swing voters to continue representing Connecticut in Congress. But despite the negative tone surrounding the recent campaign, he said he laid the groundwork for future public office possibilities.
He said that from the 30 towns incorporated into the new 5th District to the “hundreds of people I’d never met before” who worked on his behalf, his campaign “produced a significantly expanded network of friends and supporters.”
Until another run for public office, Maloney promised, he “won’t be bashful about letting people in the 5th District know what’s going on with their representatives in Washington.”
Maloney, who said his campaign knew it would face “an uphill battle,” had a simple formula to explain the outcome of both his race and elections around the country: significantly more money = significantly greater chance of winning.
As of the Oct. 16 pre-election-day campaign finance disclosure date, Maloney’s campaign had raised $1.7 million to Johnson’s $3.1 million. Estimates place spending nationwide at $95 million for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and $158 million for the Republican National Congressional Committee.
Maloney said Democratic polling showed Johnson ahead by about 10 points at the start of the campaign, and “their money advantage basically preserved their lead.” Johnson won, 54 to 43 percent. Maloney concluded that the Democratic Party must raise money more efficiently, and said that the Republican Party has a much better financial infrastructure.
But ever the optimist, he also said that incoming House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has her political roots as a party organizer rather than as a local politician like outgoing Minority Leader Dick Gephardt (D-Mo.), and that this will help the party overhaul its fundraising and organization.
He also said criticism that Democrats didn’t have a unified national message, as well as criticism in 2000 that they didn’t send enough grass-roots messages, are “missing the point.”
“It’s like saying the Titanic sank because it was going too fast,” he said.
Democrats around the state expect Maloney to remain an active voice in the party and probably to resurface in public office. Their message to him: Goodbye – at least for now.
Published in The New Britain Herald, in Connecticut.
